Epiphany falls on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. In most countries, including the United States, the celebration of Epiphany in 2010 is transferred to Sunday, January 3.

Epiphany is a day to make our homes glitter with the exuberance of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It's the customary day to bless the home for the new year, although this blessing is fitting whenever you can gather the household in January.

You can bless your home simply, praying this blessing as part of mealtime grace. Or you can embellish this blessing by writing with blessed chalk above the front door: "20 + C + M + B + 10" (the initials of the three holy kings Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar along with the inscription of the new year). Then everyone walks from room to room sprinkling the home with water, a sign of the River Jordan. A twig from the Christmas tree makes a fine sprinkler.

On Sunday, February 21st after the 10:00 am Mass we will have a server training session. The session is scheduled from 11:00 am until 12:00 pm in the church. We will then have a pizza luncheon from 12:00 pm until 12:45 pm in the Resource Room. It is a very important that all are servers attend so that we can go over and review all important information and guidelines. Thanks so much!

We have received word from the Bishop's office that our Confirmation Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, April 10th at 1:00 pm. Our celebrant will be Bishop- Elect Siegel. Please make a note of it.

A reminder that all Confirmation Information sheets are now due. Please turn them in to Mr. Kelsey or the Religious Education Office (Resource Room) as soon as possible. All Confirmation students are required to complete and turn in this form - it is imperative for our church records.

A reminder that all Confirmation Information sheets are now due. Please turn them in to Mr. Kelsey or the Religious Education Office (Resource Room) as soon as possible. All Confirmation students are required to complete and turn in this form - it is imperative for our church records.

Our Diocese along with the Diocese of Rockford and the Archdiocese of Chicago have come together to put forth a great evangelization campaign called "Catholics Come Home." Below is an excerpt from the official website. Please take the time to visit this website to learn more about this inspiring campaign.

" A Crisis of Faith in our World It is clear that our society is in the midst of a culture war. More than ever, people need God, but sadly, many have lost sight of the treasures of the Catholic faith. We can see the reality of our fallen-away brothers and sisters not only in our nation as a whole, but even in our own families and neighborhoods. The evidence is shocking:

Only 33 percent of U.S. Catholics attend Mass on a weekly basis. That means approximately 42.7 million U.S. Catholics are not practicing Catholics.1 The number of Americans identifying themselves as non-religious/secular increased 110 percent from 1990 to 2000! It is now 13.2 percent of the total population.2 Comparing this statistic with the previous one, non-religious, secular individuals outnumber active, Mass-attending Catholics by 58 percent. As many as 100,000 baptized Catholics in the U.S. drift away from Church each year.3 Evangelization is critically needed, now!"